1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to projection or spray type coating systems, work surface shields, masks or protectors, and painting shields and, more specifically, to spray shields and spraying methods.
2. Disclosure Statement
This disclosure statement is made pursuant to the duty of disclosure imposed by law and formulated in 37 CFR 1.56(a). No representation is hereby made that information thus disclosed in fact constitutes prior art inasmuch as 37 CRF 1.56(a) relies on a materiality concept which depends on uncertain and inevitably subjective elements of substantial likelihood and reasonableness, and inasmuch as a growing attitude appears to require citation of material which might lead to a discovery of pertinent material though not necessarily being of itself pertinent. Also, the following comments contain conclusions and observations which have only been drawn or become apparent after conception of the subject invention or which contrast the subject invention or its merits against the background of developments subsequent in time or priority.
There certainly has been no dearth of proposals in the area of consideration, as may, for instance, be seen from the wall protector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 456,775, issued July 28, 1891, the wall protector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 624,796, issued May 9, 1899, the wall protecting device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 695,965, issued Mar. 25, 1902, the elaborately angled paint guard of U.S. Pat. No. 1,386,706, issued Aug. 9, 1921, the mop board protector of U.S. Pat. No. 1,563,889, issued Dec. 1, 1925, the tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,497, issued Mar. 29, 1932, the painter's masking shield of U.S. Pat. No. 2,290,472, issued July 21, 1942, the shield for wall moldings of U.S. Pat. No. 2,332,579, issued Oct. 26, 1943, the painting mask of U.S. Pat. No. 2,959,152, issued Nov. 8, 1960, the painters' door shield of U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,782, issued Apr. 17, 1962, the work attached paint shield of U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,435, issued Apr. 30, 1968, the interior decorators' aid disclosed in British patent specification No. 1 400 406, published July 16, 1975, and the paint shielding apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,703, issued Apr. 25, 1978.
Despite this seeming wealth of proposals, there persisted a heretofore unsatisfied need for practical and highly efficient spray shields alternatively usable at both projecting corners and recessed corners, methods of spraying projecting corners as well as recessed corners, and methods for selectively spraying corner regions in general.
It is thus believed symptomatic of a backward state of the art that such recent proposal as the shielding apparatus disclosed in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,703 still employs basically the straight or angled flat cardboard pieces utilized by painters on a makeshift bases for times immemorial.